"Designed and made by hand in the Northern Appalachians. Every instrument is a custom design in one way or another. My goal is to innovate within a framework of tradition and familiarity and produce good sounding instruments. I spend a lot of time in the design and prototyping process  and each instrument I build has its own distinct personality.

"I’m not a mass-producer—in the tradition of luthiers, I am a one-person studio, and make every part of the instrument based on my own patterns and if you commission a project you become part of the design process. I built my first guitar in 1964 as an industrial design thesis and was fortunate to have some guidance from John D’Angelico and William Del Pilar. Thanks to my industrial design background, I’m very familiar with manufacturing, so have incorporated features and hand work into my instruments that separate them from factory made instruments. No computer-controlled machinery or serial production methods are used."

On this M, Ken took cedar, a classic tonewood well-loved by fingerstyle players and those who prefer a warm, dark tone, and paired it with less common African padauk. Touted as a good substitute for rosewood, padauk has a bright, eye-catching red hue and provides a rich palette of overtones. With a comfortable neck profile inspired by an old Epiphone Jazz guitar and a shorter 24-3/4" scale, this guitar is a breeze to play, with beautiful appointments to complement its rich tone.

This guitar is currently located with the luthier in Pennsylvania, USA. Shipping times will vary by buyer location.